# Dumbest scene from Aliens **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [July 8, 2021, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986 "2021-07-08T14:37:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/61 "2021-07-10T21:37:00Z")
If they dropped the aliens down to clear out a recalcitrant planet (how else could they be used?), they’d have to then blast the planet from space to get rid of the aliens. So just blast the planet to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/62 "2021-07-10T21:54:33Z")
I’d imagine they were arrogant enough to think the could train or control them, or maybe use acid blood as an aerosol weapon or some such. That said even as a non weapon resource, a skin /body structure that can survive really corrosive acids and environments has got to be useful from materials science POV and creating protective casings or resistant materials for terraforming corrosive atmospheres etc. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2021, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/63 "2021-07-11T02:59:08Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Every sailor knows that if anything happens to a ship’s cat then nine years of bad luck is the best you can hope for, assuming you manage to survive. The story of [Unsinkable Sam](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JZbpiPyhmo) who had to be pulled from the drink not once, not twice, but three times. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2021, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/64 "2021-07-15T18:29:29Z")
I just don’t see what’s cringey about the scene. They think she’s just another useless person they’ll have to drag along. She proves them wrong. She’s not only able to use the loader, she is proficient enough with it that she can do a trick. Apone is relieved and impressed. What’s wrong here? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2021, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/65 "2021-07-16T01:58:11Z")
I think some modern audiences might interpret the scene as sexist. That would be my guess. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2021, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/66 "2021-07-16T02:21:28Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I think some modern audiences might interpret the scene as sexist. Sure it’s sexy! ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2021, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/67 "2021-07-16T02:49:10Z")
I wouldn’t read it as sexist. The Space Marines included women and did not seem to regard them as inferior in any way. It would have been sexist if they had said “I don’t know Ripley, let’s see what Burke is up to before we let a _woman_ drive a loader…” but that wasn’t the case. Instead I see it as a military crew that hasn’t spent a lot of time working with civilians. Ripley is not a part of the command structure and they don’t actually know what she can or can’t do so as far as they are concerned, she’s underfoot and likely to just get in the way. But once Ripley shows the Marines that she is just as skilled with a loader as they are, she’s actively helping. They laugh because the Marines have been bitching and grumbling all day but Ripley is enthusiastic about what they consider to be a menial task. It’s not what they are used to so it’s funny. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2021, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/68 "2021-07-16T03:14:59Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > I wouldn’t read it as sexist. The Space Marines included women and did not seem to regard them as inferior in any way. It would have been sexist if they had said “I don’t know Ripley, let’s see what Burke is up to before we let a _woman_ drive a loader…” but that wasn’t the case. You’re preaching to the choir here as I don’t read the scene as sexist either. Apone and the others saw her as dead weight and were delighted to learn they were wrong. But the only reason I can see anyone might the scene is cringey is because they interpret it as sexist. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2021, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/69 "2021-07-16T03:27:38Z")
> [@YamatoTwinkie](#): > > Disagree. While it’s not clear that the queen has any control over the eggs hatching, Ripley doesn’t know that. She made a deal with the queen, and it certainly seemed like the queen may have tried to sneak a facehugger nearby when Ripley wasn’t looking. Ripley’s reaction shot is “Yeah, I saw that. Deal’s off.” It may not have been the most logical thing to do at the time, but personally destroying the eggs is clearly cathartic for both Ripley and the audience. I agree with the above. I also think that the head nod by Ripley is perfect. She went in to the elevator with her guns and grenades and her fear to rescue a little girl. By the time she’s in the room with the eggs and the mother she is becoming Newt’s adopted mom. She has found clarity of purpose and her fear disappears. She’s not fighting her fear to get to Newt, she’s fighting a big alien bitch to get her and her daughter to safety. Without the nod, she never has that moment. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2021, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/70 "2021-07-16T05:02:22Z")
Yeah, what DWMarch said. They had a heavy gunner, a medic, and a dropship pilot who were women. It had nothing to do with sexism. I’m a dude and I’ve had to prove myself on landscaping and construction worksites. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2021, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/71 "2021-07-16T14:25:43Z")
Like others, I never thought the initial powerloader scene was sexist. Ripley was a civilian, Apone was surprised to see that she was a _competent_ civilian… compared to, say, Burke. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/72 "2021-07-16T14:46:41Z")
Aside: I’ve heard that one reason why all the characters in the Alien franchise are referred to by their last names is because the writers wanted the casting to be gender-neutral. Any of them could have been any gender, with little or no re-writing. (Obviously the “Have you ever been mistaken for a man?” exchange was gender-specific, but I think that was ad-libbed, not in the script). ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2021, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/73 "2021-07-17T19:54:26Z")
I’m very late to this discussion, but you are completely mis-understanding what happened. When Ripley says that she can run the loader, the Sergeant is skeptical, but lets her make a fool of herself. Instead, she gets in the machine, fastens all the safety gear, and then does a check of the functionality of the controls - exactly what a professional operator who knew what they were doing would do. She wasn’t showing off - she was just confirming that the loader was working correctly. The Sergeant recognized that she had professional training, and told her to go to work. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/74 "2021-07-19T19:26:58Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > nstead, she gets in the machine, fastens all the safety gear, and then does a check of the functionality of the controls - exactly what a professional operator who knew what they were doing would do …in a piece of equipment she last touched 57 years ago. If anything in the scene is dumb, it would be that. I mean, my car is only 20 years old, and the last time I rented a car it took me a while to figure out minor differences like push the button for ignition, the big-ass backup camera screen, how to get GPS to shut up, how to work the transmission paddles. Sure, most functions corresponded to something in my current car, but my muscle memory was useless. You’d think Weyland-Yetuni would have upgraded their loaders in 57 years, just to stick wi-fi or Bluetooth in them, just because they can. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/75 "2021-07-19T19:30:26Z")
No. Go watch the movie again. She couldn’t get an assignment on a ship after she was rescued. The only job she could get was working on the “docks,” running a loader. Burke know this, and mentions it when he tries to recruit her the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/76 "2021-07-19T19:31:35Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > …in a piece of equipment she last touched 57 years ago. If anything in the scene is dumb, it would be that. No, she knows how to use the loader, because after blowing up her last ship, she lost her pilot’s license, and hasn’t been able to get a better job than dockworker. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/77 "2021-07-19T19:32:16Z")
Apologies.I sit corrected. It’s been a while since I last saw it. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986/78 "2021-07-19T20:01:53Z")
I think people see it as more pandering than sexist. Some people get really angry at the idea that a woman is being praised for something that a man would not get praised for. They think it’s sexist toward men, not women. It’s the “women live life on the easy setting” mentality. I am on no way a proponent of this view. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-scene-from-aliens/945986.md?page=3)